Tsalal Island
Tsalal Island is an island beyond the Antarctic Polar Circle, latitude 83˚ 20ˊ south, longitude 43˚ 5ˊ west, set in a raven-black sea and surrounded by seven other islands. Geography The coast is steep, the interior covered by thick woodland. Its climate is benign- incredible for its latitude- and the sea around it is free from ice. The rocks are unusual because of their volume, many dark colours and stratifications. Even the vegetation is different from any other in the world. The waters of Tsalal are unique. Though drinkable, they have the consistency of gum Arabic dissolved in water. When running, the water presents itself to the eye in many shades of violet, like shot silk, but if it is caught in a bowl it can be seen that the liquid is formed of several separate veins, each of a different colour. These veins do not intermingle, and though the cohesion among the different particles is perfect, it remains imperfect between vein and vein. If the blade of a knife is inserted through the middle, the water will immediately close upon it, but if the blade is inserted directly between the two veins, a perfect separation is obtained and the veins do not come together at once. Natives The inhabitants are as black as ebony and wear their thick, woolly hair long. They are as tall as the average European but far more muscular and sturdy. They go about naked, except for the warriors who cover themselves with the thick, soft skin of a dark, unknown animal, which they drape around their bodies with great ability. They are armed with dark wooden clubs, flint-headed spears and slings. Their houses, of rather poor design, are grouped in a village called Klok-Klok. Most of their habitations are small shallow caves, dug out of a steep wall of black stone. Others consist of a tree cut down about four feet from the ground with a black skin thrown over it and hanging in loose folds under which the natives nestle. Other houses are formed by means of rough branches, with the withered foliage still on them, made to recline at a forty-five-degree angle against a bank of clay, and heaped up, without regular form, to the height of five or six feet. Yet others are mere holes dug in the ground and covered in branches. A few are built among the forked branches as they stand, the upper part being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon the lower, thus forming a thicker shelter from the weather. Fauna The fauna is strange. Among the domestic animals is a large creature which resembles the common hog in the structure of the body and the snout. The tail, though, is bushy and the slender legs are like those of an antelope. Its movements are exceedingly awkward and indecisive and it hardly ever attempts to run. There are other similar animals but of greater body length and covered with black wool. A great variety of tame fowls constitute the natives' chief food, including a kind of duck, black gannets and a non-carnivorous buzzard. The natives have also domesticated the black albatross which periodically flies off to sea but always returns to the villages. There is an abundance of fish and turtles. The serpents on the island, despite their formidable aspect, do not frighten the natives and are therefore probably not venomous. In the south, where the black albatross makes its nest, are many biches-de-mer. Expeditions The first expedition known to have reached Tsalal was those on board the schooner Jane Guy from Liverpool, on 19th January, 1828. All but two members of the expedition were massacred. One of these, Mr Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, discovered certain chasms in the interior of the island. In the eastern extremity of the easternmost cavern, Mr Pym found carvings which exactly reproduce the Ethiopian verbal root for “being dark”, from which derive all words indicating “shadow” or “darkness”; also the Arab verbal root for “being white”, from which derives all words meaning “light” and “purity”; and finally and Egyptian word meaning “southern region” together with a human figure pointing south. It is interesting to note that very few things on the island are white, that the inhabitants are terrified by the mere sight of that colour, and that in the southern region of the island everything is black. It is possible that the crew of the Jane Guy were exterminated because of the colour of their skin. A philological examination of the name of the island may perhaps reveal some link with the characters so mysteriously inscribed on the walls of its interior. Category:Places Category:Pages